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IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity

Single Photon Counter Based on a Josephson Junction at 14 GHz for Searching Galactic Axions

L. S. Kuzmin, Alexander S. Sobolev, Claudio D. Gatti, Daniele Di Gioacchino, N. Crescini, Anna V. Gordeeva, E. V. Il’ichev

Published Jul 19, 2018• 50 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Axions and axion-like particles appear in well-motivated extensions of the standard model of particle physics and may be the solution to the long-standing puzzle of the dark matter in our Universe. Several new experiments are foreseen in the next decade searching them in a wide range of the parameter space. In the mass region from few to several tens of microelectronvolt, detector sensitivity will be limited by the standard quantum limit of linear amplifiers and a new class of single microwave-photon detector will be needed. We have developed a single photon counter based on the voltage switching of an underdamped Josephson junction that is coupled to a coplanar waveguide. By measuring the switching voltage, we can register single photons at 14 GHz with the rate less than 1 photon per 3000 s.

DOI
10.1109/tasc.2018.2850019

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Axions and axion-like particles appear in well-motivated extensions of the standard model of particle physics and may be the solution to the long-standing puzzle of the dark matter in our Universe. Several new experiments are foreseen in the next decade searching them in a wide range of the parameter space. In the mass region from few to several tens of microelectronvolt, detector sensitivity will be limited by the standard quantum limit of linear amplifiers and a new class of single microwave-photon detector will be needed. We have developed a single photon counter based on the voltage switching of an underdamped Josephson junction that is coupled to a coplanar waveguide. By measuring the switching voltage, we can register single photons at 14 GHz with the rate less than 1 photon per 3000 s.
Abstract The major task of detecting axions or axion-like particles has two challenges. On the one hand, the ultimate sensitivity is required, down to the energy of a single microwave photon of the yoctojoule range. On the other hand, since the detected events are supposed to be rare, the dark count rate of the detector must be extremely low. We show that this trade-off can be approached due to the peculiar switching dynamics of an underdamped Josephson junction in the phase diffusion regime. The detection of a few photons’ energy at 10 GHz with dark count time above 10 s and the efficiency close to unity was demonstrated. Further enhancements require a detailed investigation of the junction switching dynamics.
Axions detection requires the ultimate sensitivity down to the single-photon limit. In the microwave region, this corresponds to energies in the yJ range. This extreme sensitivity has to be combined with an extremely low dark-count rate since the probability of axions conversion into microwave photons is supposed to be very low. To face this complicated task, we followed two promising approaches that both rely on the use of superconducting devices based on the Josephson effect. The first one is to use a single Josephson junction (JJ) as a switching detector (i.e., exploiting the superconducting to normal state transition in the presence of microwave photons). We designed a device composed of a coplanar waveguide terminated on a current-biased JJ. We tested its efficiency to pulsed (pulse duration 10 ns) microwave signals since this configuration is closer to an actual axions search experiment. We show how our device is able to reach detection capability of the order of ten photons with the frequency of 8 GHz. The second approach is based on an intrinsically quantum device formed by two resonators coupled only via a superconducting qubit network. This approach relies on quantum nondemolition measurements of the resonator photons. We show that by injecting radiofrequency power into the resonator, the frequency position of the resonant drop in the transmission coefficient (S21) can be modulated up to 4 MHz. We anticipate that, once optimized, both the devices have the potential to reach single-photon sensitivity.
Abstract Josephson junctions, in appropriate configurations, can be excellent candidates for detection of single photons in the microwave frequency band. Such possibility has been recently addressed in the framework of galactic axion detection. Here are reported recent developments in the modelling and simulation of dynamic behaviour of a Josephson junction single microwave photon detector. For a Josephson junction to be enough sensitive, small critical currents and operating temperatures of the order of ten of mK are necessary. Thermal and quantum tunnelling out of the zero-voltage state can also mask the detection process. Axion detection would require dark count rates in the order of 0.001 Hz. It is, therefore, is of paramount importance to identify proper device fabrication parameters and junction operation point.
We use a semiclassical formalism to optimize a microwave single-photon detector based on switching events of a current-biased Josephson junction coupled to a resonator. To detect very rare events, the average time between dark counts ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{\mathrm{dark}}$ should be maximized taking into account that the switching time ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{\mathrm{sw}}$ should be sufficiently small. We demonstrate that these times can be tuned in a wide range by changing the junction parameters, and ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{\mathrm{dark}}/{\ensuremath{\tau}}_{\mathrm{sw}}\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{9}$ can be achieved. Therefore, a junction-resonator arrangement can be used to detect extremely low photon fluxes (e.g., for searching for galactic axions).
We report an axion dark matter search with a haloscope equipped with a microwave photon counter. The haloscope is a tunable high quality factor three-dimensional microwave cavity placed in a magnetic field. The photon counter, operated cyclically, maps an incoming microwave photon onto the state of a superconducting transmon qubit. The measurement protocol continuously monitors the power emitted by the haloscope cavity as well as the dark count background and enables tuning of the cavity frequency to probe different axion masses. With this apparatus, we enhance by a factor of 20 the search speed that can be reached with quantum-limited linear amplifiers and set a new standard for probing the existence of axions with resonant detectors above 5 GHz.
When measuring electromagnetic radiation of frequency f, the most sensitive detector counts single quanta of energy hf. Single photon detectors have been demonstrated from γ-rays to infrared wavelengths, with ongoing efforts to extend their range to microwaves. Here we show that an underdamped Josephson junction can detect 14 GHz thermal photons, with energy 10 yJ or 50 μeV, stochastically emitted by a microwave copper cavity at millikelvin temperatures. After characterizing the source and the detector, we vary the cavity temperature and measure the photon rate. The device achieves 45% efficiency and a dark count rate of 0.1 Hz over several GHz. Demonstrated super-Poissonian photon statistics is a signature of thermal light and a hallmark of quantum chaos. We discuss applications in dark matter axion searches and note its relevance to quantum information and fundamental physics. It is shown that 14 GHz photons, thermally emitted from a copper cavity, can be detected by a Josephson junction with 45% efficiency and 0.1 Hz dark count rate. Demonstrated super-Poissonian photon statistics is a signature of thermal light and a hallmark of quantum chaos.